


Fantastic Holidays and Where to Find Them

by Semper_Sehun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Coming In Pants, First Time, Frottage, Grinding, Inexperience, M/M, Magical Creatures, Muggle Technology, Pining, handjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-26 03:56:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17134490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semper_Sehun/pseuds/Semper_Sehun
Summary: When Sehun has to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, he doesn’t expect to spend his holidays with his long-term crush. He figures that maybe spending Christmas at the school isn’t as bad as he’d originally thought.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wish you guys a happy Christmas! I'll be posting parts 2 and 3 tomorrow and the day after tomorrow just in time for Christmas! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you'll have a nice day!  
> Special thanks to my beta reader [Alex](https://potterloud.tumblr.com).

The beating of his heart drowned out every other noise. His eyes were fixated on the door that had just slid ajar, just slightly. Light fell into the pitch-black room. Sehun’s breathing grew heavy as he watched the door move over the ground, centimetre by centimetre.

He’d been caught after all.

A silhouette appeared in the door frame, the bright light of the hallway making it impossible for Sehun to make out the person’s face. He didn’t need to though, he already knew who it would be.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Filch, I-“

“What the fuck?” Surprise was clear in the stranger’s voice. To Sehun’s shock, it clearly didn’t belong to Filch, the infamous caretaker of Hogwarts as he had originally expected. However, before he could speak up, the other had already raised his wand.

“Lumos.”

The door slid shut behind the intruder and the bright light of a lit wand was blinding his eyesight for a second until they’d gotten used to the brightness. Once he’d stopped squinting, Sehun could finally make out a face in the still considerably dark room. Before he could say something, however, the boy in front of him already started talking.

“Hey, you’re in some of my classes! Sehun, right? You’re the one that always volunteers to stay late after Care of Magical Creatures.” Instantly, Sehun’s face flushed. So that was something that people remembered about him? He wasn’t exactly ashamed of it, but it certainly wasn’t the cool image he’d been hoping for.

“Yeah, exactly. And you’re Jongin.” Of course Sehun knew who he was. Jongin, their year’s heartthrob, was one of the chasers of Gryffindor’s Quidditch team. Not only did Sehun regularly see him during matches when he played for Hufflepuff as their seeker but he also couldn’t take his eyes off of him whenever they were in class together. To say that he had a crush on him was the understatement of the century.

“That’s me. How did you-“

Both their heads turned towards the door. Outside, the faint sounds of footsteps could be heard through the heavy, wooden door to the storage room Sehun had fled into just about a minute before Jongin had entered it.

Scuffling steps became louder and louder and once again, Sehun’s heartbeat seemed to drown out every single noise. If Filch found them now, they’d both have detention until the end of the school year.

Jongin whispered a spell under his breath and the small storage room was once again enveloped in darkness. Now that Sehun couldn’t direct his focus on anything but his own thoughts, his anxiety of getting caught seemed to multiply tenfold.

Outside the door, the steps came to a halt. Neither Jongin nor Sehun were moving. Sehun’s breath felt like it was stuck in his chests as they both stared into the darkness, waiting for something to happen.

“Colloportus” Jongin whispered under his breath. The sound of the click in the lock felt extremely loud in the silence that was only interrupted by their own hammering hearts.

Suddenly the steps picked up again. To Sehun’s relief, they sounded further away than he’d originally anticipated. His feeling of relief didn’t last long though. The sounds of the steps became louder and louder until a sudden meow resounded right in front of the door.

Sehun’s eyes had slowly got used to the darkness. He could see the silhouette of Jongin in front of him. The boy was frozen on the spot. Neither of them moved when there was a slight scratching noise.  _ Mrs. Norris, _ Sehun thought. As much as he liked animals and especially cats too, this particular specimen couldn’t mean anything but trouble.

They both flinched in unison when the handle was pushed down. But the door wouldn’t budge. Sehun send out quiet prayers to thank god for letting Jongin lock up the door last minute. He hadn’t even thought of that himself, and he honestly felt slightly stupid, but in that moment his inferiority complexes didn’t even matter.

A scornful huff was followed by a drawn out meow and for a second, Sehun imagined the gruff caretaker to stay in front of the door until they had to come out of the storage room eventually.

With relief, Sehun let out a breath when the sounds of steps began to fill the air again, this time clearly moving away from the door. Not wanting to risk their luck, they both stayed quiet for another minute just to make sure the man hadn’t just stopped a few metres down the hallway.

“Holy fuck, that was so close.” Jongin let out a breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding. A small, relieved laugh escaped him as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

“I know, oh my god. I really thought we were going to get caught. I already saw my ass getting sent to detention for the rest of the school year.” Sehun couldn’t help but laugh quietly, too. The whole situation seemed so surreal. Not only was he locked in a closet with his crush, they had also managed to shake off Finch. He wasn’t sure when he’d last got so lucky.

“Yeah me too, next time I really need to be more careful. I saw Mrs. Norris before she could run off to get him so I at least had some time to react.” The room lit up again when Jongin whispered “Lumos”, a small light appearing at the tip of his wand.

“You’re lucky. I only heard footsteps so I ran in here. It could have been a prefect too for all I knew.”

Jongin nodded empathetically. “What were you doing out here anyway? I mean at this time in the evening? I didn’t take you for a rule breaker if I’m honest.” There was no judgement in his voice but Sehun felt slightly embarrassed anyway.

“I was…” He hesitated for a second. “I was outside the castle to care for a- I was caring for a Bowtruckle.”

Instantly, a confused look crossed Jongin’s features. “Um, I’m sorry but a what?”

“A Bowtruckle. You don’t really pay much attention in Care of Magical Animals, huh?” Shit, that came out a lot more offensive than he’d intended to. Sehun instantly felt sorry. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Bowtruckles are magical creatures that live in the trees whose wood is used for wands. They try to defend the trees from intruders. There’s an old oak outside the castle where a few Bowtruckles live. I occasionally check on them and a few days ago, I noticed that one seemed to be in pain. Apparently, it broke its leg, at least that’s what it looks like to me. I built a splint for it and now I check on it at least three times a day. It seemed a little weak so…” Sehun trailed off, realizing that he’d just monologued about a insect-like creature that probably bored Jongin to death. Also, he most likely had come across like the biggest nerd ever, which, considering what he did in his free time, probably wasn’t even wrong.

To his surprise though, the other didn’t look weirded out at all. Instead, he actually seemed to be impressed.

“That’s really nice of you. I bet the Bowtruckle…” he sounded a little uncertain when he said the name and Sehun nodded his approval “I bet it’s really thankful. Maybe I should pay more attention in Care of Magical Creatures. You seem so passionate about it, it can’t be that bad then.” There was a cute smile on Jongin’s lips and it positively made Sehun swoon. Man, this infatuation thing was bad.

“I mean, it’s alright, I really didn’t want to throw shade or anything.” Sehun quickly attempted to do damage control. Maybe he should just drop the whole topic in general. “What were you doing outside at nine in the evening though?”

“I was practicing Quidditch.” Jongin held up the broom in his hand and Sehun almost wanted to punch himself in the face. He could have definitely put one and one together.  _ Well done, now Jongin doesn’t only think you’re a rude asshole but also dumb as fuck. _

“Oh, so late at night? Wasn’t it too dark?” Honestly, flying in the dark sounded a little bit scary, but he didn’t want to come off as a coward. He’d stepped next to Jongin and with a quick “Alohomora” the door was once again unlocked. They both hesitated for a second but then Sehun reached out and pushed down the handle and poked his head outside. The hallway was empty.

Behind him, Jongin only shrugged as he explained. “It’s full moon, it’s okay. Also, I like flying in the dark. I know it’s a little dangerous but that makes it kind of exciting. I like the thrill.”

Sehun couldn’t relate. “Wow, I mean I really do like flying too, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt the urge to fly in the darkness.” Stepping out of the small storage room, he once again made sure that Finch really was nowhere in sight. Jongin followed him out only a second later.

“You should try it, it’s fun.” Apparently Jongin still wasn’t offended enough by him.

If Jongin asked him to try it out with him, he might, but on his own, Sehun doubted it. “Yeah, maybe I should…”

Awkward silence filled the air between them as they walked down the corridor, both not knowing what to say next.

Before Sehun could think of something to induce another conversation, Jongin interrupted the silence. “So, why are you still here? Not many students stay here during the holidays.”

“Well, you’re still here too, right?”

“That’s true…” Jongin rubbed the back of his neck and Sehun couldn’t help but think that it looked adorable.

“Well, my parents are working. Their doctors and I guess they decided that I’m old enough now so they took the shifts during the holidays.” He began to explain. Honestly, Sehun wasn’t exactly sure why he was telling Jongin such personal things but now that he’d started he might as well finish. “My brother moved out last year so no one would be home anyway. I guess they thought I would have more fun at Hogwarts than being at home alone. They don’t know that most people here leave for the holidays.” Sehun sent a short sideways glance at Jongin to check for his reaction. The other was staring ahead of them and Sehun couldn’t read his expression.

“Oh, your parents are muggles, right? I think I knew that.” When Jongin turned his head, their eyes met and Sehun quickly looked away. “Well, I guess they really don’t know how boring the castle gets when no one’s there to make it interesting anymore.”

His ears going red, Sehun tried not to look too embarrassed about being caught staring at him. It hadn’t seemed to bother Jongin, but he couldn’t be too sure either. “Yeah, exactly. I guess I didn’t want to make them feel guilty so I just said that it was alright.”

Jongin hummed. “That’s pretty nice of you though. But I guess for me, it’s a pretty similar reason.” He sent him another smile. “My mother is an auror and she’s on an overseas mission. My parents are divorced and my father’s not really interested in us. I honestly didn’t feel like staying at home all on my own either so I figured it’d be better to stay here. At least I can practice some Quidditch and not have to live off of half-assed attempts of preparing food. I suck at it even with using magic.” He laughed humourlessly.

Instantly, Sehun felt sorry for him. “Oh, that kind of sucks too though. I guess none of your friends stayed here either then?”

“Nope” Jongin popped the p and out of the corner of his eyes, Sehun could see how the grip on his broom tightened a little. Apparently, he’d hit a weak spot.

“I figured. My friends are all gone, too.” He tried to make Jongin feel better. “Everyone took the train home yesterday. I was holed up in the library all day reading up more stuff on Bowtruckles, but I don’t think I can be doing that for the whole duration of the break.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you should be doing that either.” This time, his laugh sounded genuine and Sehun instantly felt his heartrate increase. “You know, if you’d like we could practice some Quidditch together? Or just hang out? It gets pretty boring pretty quickly once you run out of ideas what to do.” Expectant eyes searched for Sehun’s and he couldn’t hide the smile. Sehun sincerely hoped that his cheeks weren’t too red.

“That actually sounds pretty nice. “He managed to say. ”I was secretly hoping that I’d find someone that I could spend time with, I don’t think being on my own is too great for the holidays.” It wasn’t even a lie. The thought of spending the holidays all on his own hadn’t sounded appealing at all. The fact that he’d get to spend time with Jongin sounded a lot better than he honestly could’ve hoped for, though.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’d enjoy that either. So it’s a deal? Cool!” Jongin seemed quite pleased with the idea, too.

“Yes, you can count me in. If you’d like, we could go to the Quidditch grounds tomorrow if you’d like.” Truthfully, Sehun had no idea where this new vigour was coming from but he was going to make use of it as long as it lasted.

“Yeah, sure thing! That sounds pretty good to me!” They’d reached the large hall with changing staircases and they both had to go to different floors to get to their respective common rooms.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Jongin asked, and Sehun almost wished they didn’t have to part yet.

“Exactly. Good night.” He replied either way, sending Jongin a shy smile that the other returned.

“Good night.” Jongin smiled before he turned around to head up the stairs that constantly kept changing their destination. For a moment, Sehun watched him walk upstairs, unable to take his eyes off of him. When Jongin turned around again to wave at him, Sehun almost didn’t feel embarrassed for being caught staring after him like a creep. But only almost.

And maybe, Christmas wasn’t going to be so bad this year after all.

“Are you ready for some flying?”

“It started snowing last night.”

“I know but that won’t stop us, right? You are a Quidditch player after all, you should be used to playing all year round.”

Sehun only huffed. “I am, it was just more of an… observation.” At the moment, he wasn’t capable of producing more than simple sentences. The presence of Jongin right beside him had put his brain into standby mode once again.

“Yeah right.” The other teased. “Just an observation. Well, if it’s not a problem we can head out, right?” If Sehun wasn’t insanely attracted to the Gryffindor, the way Jongin was chewing while talking right then certainly would’ve put every sane person off. Still, Sehun couldn’t help but think of it as nothing less but adorable.

“Sure.”

20 minutes later, Jongin had finished his breakfast so they left to grab their broomsticks and training uniforms. Once they’d met up at the front gates of the castle, they took the path down to the Quidditch fields. Nobody besides them seemed to be interested in spending times outdoors so they were the only ones stomping through the freshly fallen snow, leaving behind deep footprints in the soft, white substance covering the ground.

“So, any news on your Bowtruckle friend?” Jongin interrupted the silence.

“Actually, I was hoping we could check on him on the way to the Quidditch field. I just wanna see how he’s doing. I think his leg should be fine soon.” With a nervous side glance, Sehun tried to find out whether Jongin seemed annoyed by the idea or if he was okay with it. As it turned out, he didn’t actually have to worry.

“Sure, I’m actually pretty curious. You piqued my interest with your story.” The other had caught him looking at him so when their eyes met, he grinned.

“Really?”

Jongin seemed a little surprised that Sehun didn’t immediately believe him. “Yeah, you sounded pretty passionate. Whenever people tell me about their interests in a passionate way, I can’t help but feel interested in it too. There must be a reason for that person to be so intrigued by it. And it actually sounded pretty sweet.”

Sehun couldn’t help but blush. “Well, I’m happy to show you then. Maybe you really will like Care of Magical Creatures more then.”

They left the path together, their feet sinking into the fresh snow as they marched towards a group of trees. Jongin had never paid them attention before but Sehun seemed to steer directly towards them. “Exactly, who knows? Maybe it’ll become my favourite subject!” Jongin asked, almost tripping over a small stick hidden beneath the snow. Sehun automatically reached out to support him. His touch lingered on his arm for a little too long before he quickly pulled away his hand again.

“Okay, so this is the tree.” Sehun’s cheeks were still burning when he stared up at the large tree in front of them. Jongin stopped walking beside him and they just looked at the large oak for a moment. There seemingly was no movement in the branches. They swayed in the cold breeze but besides the snow piling on the branches, Jongin couldn’t spot anything unusual.

“They tend to be a little shy around strangers but since they know me well, it should be fine.” Sehun felt the need to explain. Even he had to look out for the little creatures. They were pretty good at hiding.

Jongin hummed. “So they just live in the trees?”

“Basically, yeah.”

After a minute or so, Jongin was starting to feel a little stupid just staring at leafless branches without any signs of life in it. “I can’t see anything but leaves and snow and wood.”

The moment the words had left Jongin’s lips, there was a soft nudge to his side. He barely felt it through the thick fabric of his coat. Confused eyes searched for Sehun’s, but the Hufflepuff was pointing at the tree, a finger pressed to his lips to signal Jongin to be quiet for a moment.

“Hey…” he whispered. “Look over there! There is one!”

His finger pointed at a small, green spot on one of the higher branches. Jongin had to squint to make out a more definite shape but when he finally got a good look at it, he realized that he’d actually seen one of those creatures in class before.

“Oh shit. You’re right.” He mumbled, not sure if they’d have to whisper the whole time. Sehun had signalled to stay quiet though and he didn’t want to risk scaring the creatures away so he decided to keep quiet as well.

Sehun, however, had seemingly forgotten about that already. “Hey, little friend. How are you doing today?” He directly addressed the Bowtruckle above their heads. Jongin almost overheard the small sound the creature seemed to admit. He couldn’t really find any words to describe the sound other than incredibly cute.

“Wow… this is kind of… they’re adorable?” His head turned into Sehun’s direction and the other just smiled, his eyes turning into small crescents.

“I know, right? They’re also pretty smart.” He explained. “There are similar creatures which humans occasionally have as pets as well. They’re called Phasmatodea. Well, that’s their scientific name. They are basically insects that look like leaves or sticks and it’s pretty cool. They also come in different sizes and colours too, it’s pretty fascinating.”

Jongin just stared at him, not sure if he was actually messing with him or not. When Sehun didn’t add anything to it or break out into laughter, he realized that the other was being dead serious and probably a lot more into insects and magical creatures than Jongin had originally anticipated.

“You really do know a lot about insects.”

Not sure if that was an insult, Sehun didn’t know how to reply. “Well, not all insects, just those.”

Jongin laughed but there was no bite in his words. “I guess so. You sound pretty experienced.”

“Is it boring?” The uncertainty was clear in Sehun’s voice and Jongin hurried to assure him that he wasn’t actually making fun of him.

“No, it’s not.” He smiled at Sehun. “I don’t particularly like bugs but these kinds of insects don’t sound too bad. Also, those Bowtruckles here are downright adorable.” His eyes wandered back to the magical creature still hovering on the branch above their heads. To his surprise, two more had joined it. They were peering down at the two students and judging by their constant chattering in their cute little voices, they were having an intense discussion.

Even though he should have expected it, Jongin was still surprised when Sehun held up his hand for the Bowtruckle to jump on it. Without hesitation, the little green creature carefully climbed on it. Carefully, Sehun moved his arms down again so the hand with the Bowtruckle was face to face with him and Jongin.

“If you want, you can touch it.” His eyes met Jongin’s. There was a glint of excitement in them.

The Bowtruckle was making more of the cute noises, obviously trying to talk to Sehun. Just like the Hufflepuff had told him the day before, there was a small splint secured to its leg. It seemed quite simply made but it certainly served its purpose. Even though the Bowtruckle didn’t seem anxious or angry, Jongin still wasn’t sure if touching it was a great idea. “Are you sure? And they don’t bite or sting?”

This time, it was Sehun’s turn to grin at him. “No, also I doubt you’ll do anything to annoy them.” In the spur of the moment, he reached for Jongin’s hand. Confused, Jongin wasn’t sure what Sehun was attempting to do until he had the small Bowtruckle resting in the middle of his palms. For a second, he’d thought that maybe Sehun was going to hold his hand. “Wait a moment- here you go.” Sehun had pulled away his hand, a triumphant expression on his face. He hoped that Jongin thought that the redness in his cheeks and ears came from the cold. However, the other wasn’t even looking at him.

“Wow.” Jongin breathed. “Does it always make these noises?”

A chuckle left Sehun’s lips and he nodded. “Yes, sometimes I feel like they’re trying to talk to me. I wish I could understand what they’re saying.” He sighed. Jongin looked cute with a Bowtruckle in his hand. He seemed a little lost but at the same time, there was clear excitement in his eyes as he looked at the green creature.

“This is so cool. How many are there? In the tree I mean.” Jongin finally met his eyes and Sehun hadn’t thought that he could crush on Jongin any harder but now that he was actually holding one of his favourite animals in his hand and actually seemed excited about it, Sehun was pretty sure that he was having a bad case of heart-eyes.

“I think about ten but I’m not sure. Whenever I think I counted all of them in one go, I keep finding new ones.” While thinking about how perfect Jongin was, he’d almost forgotten that Jongin had asked him a question.

“Wow, okay.” Apparently, Jongin hadn’t expected the number to be that high. “Uh, what is it doing? Sehun, it’s going up my arm.” He’d been so focused on Jongin and his handsome face that Sehun hadn’t noticed the Bowtruckle carefully but determinedly attempting to walk up Jongin’s arm.

“Okay wait, I’ll take it from you.” 20 seconds later, the Bowtruckle was safely back in Sehun’s palm. It was still chattering wildly, already attempting to climb up Sehun’s arm as well. “No, little friend. You have to go back to the tree.” Sehun mumbled. After he’d placed the creature back onto the branch, Jongin and Sehun decided to continue their way to the Quidditch field.

“That was exciting.” Jongin still couldn’t wrap his head around the small creatures even by the time they’d reached the path to the training grounds again.

“Really? I’m kind of relieved that you didn’t think it was boring.”

Since it wasn’t the first time for Sehun to say something like that, Jongin felt the need to clarify this. “Why should it be boring? This was so cool. You’re not boring or anything, why do you keep implying that?”

That wasn’t something Sehun had expected. The other’s words seemed so genuine and Sehun found himself blushing again. One of these days, Jongin would start thinking that pink was Sehun’s normal skin colour. “Okay, I believe you then.”

By the time they’d reached the Quidditch field, Sehun wasn’t sure if flying was going to be such a good idea. It had begun to snow again but Jongin seemed so excited about flying and he really didn’t want to be a killjoy, especially not if Jongin seemed so keen on at least trying it out. In the end, Sehun figured that they could still stop if they deemed it too dangerous once they were up in the air.

Dumping their bags on the ground, it didn’t take long until they both were several meters above the ground, chasing the small, golden snitch across the field. Until now, Sehun still had no idea how Jongin had managed to sweet talk Madam Hooch to grant him access to the Quidditch balls but he definitely wasn’t going to complain.

Now that they were actually up in the air, Sehun also felt less sceptical. Since they’d agreed on both hunting for the snitch, they were both watching out for a small golden flash in somewhere on the field. Admittedly, Sehun eventually got distracted by staring at Jongin, who was looking really good on his broomstick so when the other suddenly sped up, it took him longer than usual to catch up.

Side by side, they rushed through the air. Jongin was still slightly ahead of Sehun, thanks to his head start, but the Hufflepuff seeker had almost fully caught up. Eyes trained on the tiny golden ball, they both took a sharp turn to avoid crashing into the towers of the field. During the turn, Sehun had managed to catch up with Jongin. They were so, so close to the snitch.

Reaching out, Sehun leaned forward on his broom. Wind was blasting against his chest and face, pushing his hair out of his face. Beside him, Jongin had stretched out his hand as well. Up until now, they both still had the chance to win.

A small pinch to his neck made Sehun jerk up the top of his broom, effectively almost sending him off of the broomstick. A familiar sound filled his ears, and Sehun immediately knew where the sound had come from.

Still clutching onto the stick, Sehun had to slow down to not slip off of the broomstick after all. A second after Sehun almost fell, Jongin’s fingers had closed around the golden snitch. Sehun, who was still shook from almost falling several feet, finally had enough control of the broomstick again to take one hand from the stick, instead reaching towards his neck.

It didn’t take him by surprise when, after a few moments of searching through the folds of his scarf around his neck, his fingers bumped into something small and thin that very much felt like a Bowtruckle.

“Shit.” He mumbled. Just like he’d expected, once he brought his hand to eye level again, the Bowtruckle was standing on his palm, giving off a litany of curses in his cute little voice. However, this time he wasn’t actually too happy to see the magical creature. Before he could scold it, Jongin’s concerned voice reached his ears.

“Hey, are you okay? I didn’t realize what was happening until you had stabilized again already. How did that happen?” There was worry in his eyes and Sehun would feel flattered if the shock wasn’t still sitting in his bones.

“A certain Bowtruckle apparently got stuck on me, or didn’t want to leave me, I don’t know, and then decided to pinch me while we were both reaching out for the snitch. You know the rest of the story.”

“Shit.” Jongin breathed, running a hair through his hair. It was messed up from the wind but it didn’t look like a bird’s nest like Sehun’s hair probably did.

“I know. I almost felt like I was going to actually fall.”

Jongin nodded empathetically. “Do you need a break? Or should we head back to the castle.”

As much as Sehun hated to disappoint him, he was still slightly shaking from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Flying like this would definitely only make him feel more shaky and uncomfortable. “I’m still pretty shaky so if you don’t mind, we could go back to the castle? I’m really sorry, this was a lot of fun though. But that just kind of gave me a scare.” He paused, trying to sort his thoughts. “Also, I have to take this little guy-“ he pointed at the Bowtruckle on his palm “back to his tree.”

Levitating in the air beside him, Jongin immediately agreed. “Of course. Let’s go back then, you do look a little pale. I really don’t want you to fall off your broom. Wait, let me fly by your side until we’re back to the ground.”

True to his word, Jongin stuck to Sehun’s side until they’d both safely landed on the snowy field. It felt good to have solid ground under his feet again. The Bowtruckle had climbed into his scarf again, peeking out from just underneath Sehun’s chin. Jongin gave it a wink that almost made Sehun’s heart give out even though he knew it wasn’t even directed at him.

"It doesn't want to leave."

They’d reached the group of trees again and Sehun had attempted to put the Bowtruckle back onto the branch for the past three minutes. Much to his confusion, the small creature apparently had no plans on leaving him soon as it continued to hold onto his hand. Sehun couldn’t bring himself to just shake it off.

"Well, can't you just uh... Pick it up and put it back into the tree?" Jongin had been watching him struggle the whole time.

"I'm trying!" Sehun whined. "It's holding onto my finger and I don’t want to hurt it!”

Jongin hummed in understanding. "Why don't you keep until it's fully healed then? It obviously likes you and doesn't want to leave you."

Pondering for a second, Sehun decided that the idea actually didn’t sound too bad. Yet, he wasn’t sure if he was going to potentially break any school rules. "I'm not sure if that's allowed."

"Why shouldn't it?” The tone of Jongin’s voice that he actually really couldn’t think of a reason why it shouldn’t be okay. “Toads are allowed, too. And since those living sticks are harmless, it's not a big deal I think. Also, I doubt anyone would notice as long as you don't constantly carry it around in your hand."

If you looked at it from this perspective, Sehun realized that Jongin maybe had a point. "Maybe you're right. But I can't keep it forever. It has to go back to its friends eventually."

Their attention was once again returned to the Bowtruckle still desperately clinging to Sehun’s hand.

"You can still bring it back later." Jongin suggested.

"You're probably right." Slowly taking his hand down again, Sehun allowed the Bowtruckle to crawl back into his scarf where it seemed to be most comfortable.

"Of course I am. Now, let's see if lunch is ready. I'm literally starving."

The whole walk back to the castle, Jongin teased Sehun about catching the snitch even though the other was the seeker. With anybody else, Sehun probably would have felt uncomfortable but Jongin just did it in a way that made it clear that he was just kidding and trying to mess with him a little. By the time they’d reached the castle, the little scare from earlier had worn off and Sehun couldn’t stop giggling at Jongin laughing while imitating Sehun’s surprised face back form when he’d almost slipped.

The next two days passed in a rush. Once they’d started talking, it felt like something had just clicked between them. Whatever they talked about, conversation never got boring. Somehow, Jongin seemed to find just the right thing to say every time. Sehun couldn’t ever remember having developed such a close feeling to someone before, and it was seriously messing with his mind.

On one side he felt like he had to take it slow. There was always the doubt in his brain that maybe he was interpreting too much into it, that Jongin didn’t feel the same way about how they got along. The thought made his stomach churn.

Being around Jongin just felt comfortable and if Sehun wasn’t mistaken, Jongin seemed to agree on that. He kept initiating activities they could do so they ended up spending all their awake time together.

On the other hand, Sehun felt like he had to tone it down. It wasn’t like he really wanted to, it just felt like he need to. They had barely talked before they’d bumped into each other in the closet where they’d both wanted to hide from Filch but now, three days later, Sehun was ready to share his whole life story with Jongin and didn’t even feel awkward about it. Still, he felt the need to not rush everything because it wasn’t _ normal _ , at least that’s what he told himself.

“You’re staring off into the distance, Sehun. What are you thinking about?”

Jongin’s deep voice pulled him out of his thoughts. They were sitting on top of the astronomy tower, gazing up into the sky. It was pretty cold but they were both dressed in coats and additionally wrapped up in thick blankets that shielded them from the cold. There was barely any space between where they were huddled up against each other.

“What?” Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sehun needed a second to remember where he was.

Jongin’s eyes were trained on him and he felt a little caught zoning out like that. “You were literally staring at the floor for like a minute straight. It was kinda scary.”

Instantly, Sehun’s ears heated up. “Sorry, I guess I lost track of my thoughts.”

“I noticed.” With a chuckle, Jongin turned his head away again. The Bowtruckle was no longer hiding away in Sehun’s scarf but had migrated to a pocket on his chest instead. It let out a surprised noise when the object that was pushed into that pocket as well buzzed, effectively shaking the whole Bowtruckle.

“Oh.” Sehun had to fumble for a moment, trying not to squeeze the magical creature in the process. It complained noisily the whole time Sehun attempted to finger the phone out of the pocket.

Confused eyes watched him as he finally managed to wrestle the device from the depths of his pocket and they only grew more confused when they landed on the smartphone.

“What is that?”

“This?” Sehun gave him a startled look. How the fuck could Jongin not know what a smartphone was?

“Yes? What is it? Is that a muggle thing?”

_ Ah, right.  _ Sometimes, Sehun forgot that purebloods occasionally had no clue about muggle life. Honestly, he probably should’ve expected Jongin to not know what a smartphone was because pureblood wizards often didn’t meddle with muggle devices. He didn’t quite get the point of that as there were several things that were really helpful in daily life – like smartphones – which purebloods didn’t use solely because they were developed and used by muggles. Still, he didn’t want to start a discussion of values.

“Yeah, it’s a muggle thing. It’s actually pretty helpful. It’s called a smartphone. You do know what phones are, right?”

Jongin sent him an offended look that said  _ duh  _ and Sehun only rolled his eyes.

“Okay, okay, you know what a phone is. Great.” He chuckled. “Well, a smartphone is a phone that’s… smart I guess.”

Jongin’s next look signalled him nothing less than  _ ‘are you kidding me’  _ and Sehun hurried to provide him a proper explanation. Just seeing the look in his eyes made Sehun feel like it was worth it though.

“Alright, well basically a smartphone is a lot more than a normal phone. It has a touch screen.” Sehun turned on the screen to demonstrate it to him. Jongin’s eyes lit up just as much as the screen. When his touch unlocked the screen, Jongin looked positively stunned.

“You can play games on this, listen to music, take pictures, use social media… Ah, you probably don’t know what that is either… It’s something where you can talk to friends, share pictures and basically everything else with the whole world.”

“You can play games on that? What kind of games?” Apparently, that was the only thing Jongin had picked up from what Sehun had just said but he couldn’t really blame him.

“Yes, should I show you?”

For the next ten minutes, Jongin attempted to not die at playing Flappy Bird but eventually got too frustrated, shoving the phone back into Sehun’s hand with a disgruntled expression and an impressively low score.

“I don’t know how to do this.” He shrugged and the only thing Sehun could think was how adorable that pout on his lips was.

Now that he had his phone back, he could actually read the message that had caused his phone to vibrate. The moment his eyes scanned over the text though, he pulled the phone up to his face and angled the screen away from Jongin, sweat starting to break out on his forehead.

_ [Baekhyun] how’s it going with your pretty wizard boy crush?????? _

_ [Sehun] fuck off he's right beside me!!! _

A quick glance to the side told him that Jongin was back to staring up at the sky. Relieved, he turned back to his phone.

_ [Baekhyun] what are you two up to??  _ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

_ [Sehun] we're gazing stars at the astronomy tower _

_ [Baekhyun] BOIIII if he doesn't want to suck your dick idek _

_ [Baekhyun] so you're literally on a date??? _

Just the thought made butterflies flutter in his stomach.

_ [Sehun] it's not a date _

Of course it wasn’t a date. They were just hanging out. Still, the idea sounded too good to be true and secretly, he kind of wished it really was a date.

_ [Baekhyun] are you sure??? Cause it sounds like one _

Another glance at Jongin made his heart flutter. Moonlight highlighted the gentle curve of his lips and Sehun couldn’t help but be drawn in by his handsome profile. As if he’d noticed Sehun staring, Jongin turned his head and their eyes met. Quickly, Sehun averted his eyes and went back to typing as he attempted to get over the embarrassment of being caught staring.

_ [Sehun] I'm pretty sure.... _

"What are you doing? Are you playing a game too?"

Jongin’s voice cut through the silence. He’d watched him type and had decided that he’d stargazed enough for now.

"No, I was just talking with a friend."

The Gryffindor quirked a brow. "Oh, do I know that friend?"

"I don't think so, he's not from Hogwarts." At the thought of Baekhyun, Sehun had to smile. Ever since he could remember, he’d been friends with the small boy that lived in the house next to his parents’ home. It had just been impossible to keep such a large secret as being a wizard and going to an actual wizard school from him so he had let Baekhyun in on the secret right from the start. In the beginning, his friend hadn’t immediately believed him for obvious reasons but when Sehun had accidentally set the curtains on fire in Baekhyun’s mother’s kitchen because he’d been so angry about a news report on the TV, Baekhyun had believed him. Nowadays, he usually informed Baekhyun about everything that was going on but he’d never told anyone else that he’d told his muggle friend about Hogwarts. He didn’t want to get Baekhyun into trouble after all.

"I see. Are you two close?" Inquisitive eyes searched for Sehun’s.

"Yeah. He's my best friend, we talk about everything."

"That's cool." Jongin almost sounded a little annoyed, but Sehun had no clue why he’d be annoyed in the first place so he figured that he was probably just misinterpreting things.

"Hey, can I look at your phone again?" Jongin quickly added. It seemed like he’d noticed Sehun’s confused expression and he didn’t want the mood to change.

“Sure.”

After he’d handed Jongin his phone, he watched the other scroll through his game folder again. Just when he didn’t pay attention for a moment and tried to stop the Bowtruckle from crawling out of his pocket and into his scarf again, Jongin’s cursing made him look up.

"What's that app?” Jongin asked, staring at the phone screen in confusion. “Oh shit I did something. Wait, is that a wizard picture? I thought muggle pictures didn't move!"

A loud laugh escaped Sehun as he realized what Jongin was looking at. "That's something called a gif, Jongin. They only move in their digital form. If you were to print it out, it'd be a still from one of the frames."

Jongin seemed stunned. "Wow, okay. It seems like muggles really know how to get shit done without magic after all.” He sent Sehun a teasing smile. “Can I play that game again? It was annoying but also kind of cool."

Taking the phone from him to open the game without further incidents, Sehun nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Their fingers brushed when Sehun passed him the phone again and for a second, Sehun felt the urge to lace their fingers together. As he watched Jongin, the Hufflepuff just hoped that no further messages from Baekhyun would pop up while Jongin was on his phone.

"You know, we should bake some cookies." The idea had suddenly popped up in his mind.

"Cookies? Like Christmas cookies?" Even though he was enraptured by the screen, Jongin seemed to be at least listening to him as he crashed into the ground with the bird once again.

"Yeah, we could sneak into the kitchen." The idea started to take shape and all of a sudden, Sehun just really, really wanted to bake Christmas cookies with Jongin. He definitely was going to make it work.

"I have no clue how to bake. Even with magic it's... Let's just say I'm not particularly good at it."

Admittedly, that was a problem. Still, Sehun tried to play it cool. "That's alright, I used to bake cookies with my mom all the time when I was younger. We should totally do that! It's so much fun." Technically it wasn’t a lie. He did bake a lot with his mother when he was younger, however, that was several years ago and his mother did most of the work – he mainly just dumped too much sprinkles on the cookies after he’d dropped them in melted chocolate by accident.

"Okay, but if we fuck up, you'll know that I told you I won't be of any use." Jongin grinned.

"It's not that tough, Jongin, really." It probably was but Sehun was ready to ignore that.

"We'll see if you'll still say that afterwards."

After playing some more games on his phone and explaining to Jongin how the camera on his phone worked, Sehun had sneakily succeeded in taking a selfie with Jongin and they’d agreed on sneaking into the kitchen the following afternoon. Eventually, it got too cold even with blankets and coats so the boys headed back inside the castle and decided that it was time to hit the hay.

They parted at the same staircase like they had during the night of their first encounter. Before Sehun could hurry up the second staircase, Jongin stepped closer to him. For a moment, Sehun had no idea what was going on but in the matter of seconds, the atmosphere had seemed to change.

When their eyes met, Sehun's heart began to hammer in his chest.

Jongin was smiling, a soft expression on his handsome features. Sehun just couldn't look away.

Frozen to the spot, Sehun couldn't do anything but stand still as Jongin closed the distance between them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas Eve and a great Christmas day!  
> Here comes chapter 2, enjoy!

Sehun’s heart hammered in his chest. His eyes fluttered shut as Jongin leaned closer.

Arms wrapped around him, pulling him in tightly. Lips already parted, Sehun waited for the press of plush lips on his.

It didn’t come.

Jongin had his arms tightly wrapped around him, chin resting on his shoulder. What Sehun had interpreted as their first kiss was just a simple hug. Instantly, his cheeks flamed up and he hurried to hug Jongin back properly. Now that he’d realized his mistake, he just hoped that Jongin hadn’t seen his expression.

When they parted, Sehun tried to swallow the feeling of disappointment. Instead of looking bummed out, he sent Jongin a smile.

“Good night, Jongin. I’ll see you tomorrow to bake the best cookies this school has ever seen.”

For a second, it looked like Jongin wanted to say something but then he closed his mouth again. A moment later, it appeared like he’d made up his mind. “I hope we don’t burn the whole school down.” He smiled. “Good night, Sehun.”

“Okay, so I looked up a few easy recipes and it really shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

The kitchen of Hogwarts was bustling with numerous house elves and Sehun and Jongin were caught right in the middle. Somehow, Sehun had managed to convince them not to immediately kick them out. While they were only allowed to stay under the condition of not messing with their work and staying in their assigned corner, neither Jongin nor Sehun had a problem with that. It was probably better for everyone’s safety, too.

Jongin was leaning against the counter, looking a little lost. When they’d entered the kitchen, he’d looked like a toddler who had got separated from his mom at the supermarket. “That’s what everybody says and then suddenly, the whole kitchen is on fire.”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “You have to be optimistic, Jongin. Also, there are a dozen house elves here that would probably prevent that from happening.”

Apparently, that didn’t really manage to convince Jongin.

“I give us ten minutes in this kitchen until they’re kicking us out.”

“Positive vibes, Jongin.” Sehun poked his side and Jongin flinched. Swatting at his hand, the other let out a sigh.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Show me the recipe. Where did you get it from?”

Producing the phone from his pocket, Sehun waved it at Jongin’s face. “I looked it up on the internet. I really wish we had Wifi in this school, the reception here literally sucks ass, I’m not even kidding. It took ages for the page to load and then not even the pictures showed up. It was quite disappointing.”

“What’s a Wifi?”

Honestly, Sehun probably should’ve expected that. “You know what, nevermind. Let’s just get started.” He didn’t even bother to explain. Judging by his poor explanations the previous day, he was only going to confuse Jongin even more, so there no use to begin. “Okay, so first we have to weigh the ingredients. Accio flour.”

Jongin raised a brow. “And you really want to go through with this not using magic thing? ‘Cause that definitely was magic right there.” There was a triumphant undertone in his voice and Sehun wanted to punch him. Softly. With his lips.

“That doesn’t count.”

“What does count then?”

“Just… like the rest. Mixing it together and stuff. We need to search for a scale and a bowl.”

By the time they’d found everything they needed, they’d gathered at least ten death stares from the house elves. It definitely had nothing to do with how Sehun almost spilled a whole bag of flour in the kitchen and only managed to catch it last second, only leaving his hands dusted in white powder.

“That was tough, I need a break.” Jongin reached for a pastry on a griddle that a house elf had left there to cool. Sehun was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to eat any of those.

“Jongin, we literally only gathered all the ingredients. We haven’t even really started yet.”

Apparently, that was enough for Jongin already though. “Still, it was exhausting. What’s the sense in being in the kitchen of Hogwarts when you can’t even snack?” The smile that he sent Sehun made Sehun melt in seconds. With a sneaky glance behind himself, he reached for a pastry as well. The wink that Jongin sent him in return almost gave him a heart attack.

“Anyways…” Sehun mumbled, having a hard time to keep his voice stable. “We need 300 grams of flour. Hey, Jongin- can you help me?” Jongin, who had just reached for a second pastry, shot Sehun an apologetic look.

“Okay, okay. Let me just-“ Jongin was still chewing but at least his hands were free now as he reached for the flour, almost dropping the pastry as he tried to one handedly open the bag of flour. To Sehun’s relief, the Gryffindor quickly realized that maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Eventually, they got into the flow of it. Sure they were messy, but there was no major flour spillage or shredded fingers when Jongin turned the almonds into almost a powder. As they worked, their hands brushed several times and Sehun liked to imagine that it wasn’t entirely by accident.

“Jongin, can you crack the egg? We only need one.” Sehun pointed at the carton of eggs. It was the last ingredient they needed to add before everything had to be mixed together.

“I’ve never cracked eggs without magic.” The look Jongin sent him made Sehun crack up.

“Seriously, how do you fucking survive?”

Jongin just shrugged. “I don’t know either.”

In the end, Sehun cracked the egg while Jongin watched him as if he was performing heart surgery. He gave him an acknowledging look. When Sehun told him that it wasn’t that hard, Jongin just waved it off and reached for another pastry.

“The dough has to rest for half an hour now.” They were both staring at the dough in the bowl. Jongin had spent a good amount of time kneading it until everything had been mixed properly. While watching, Sehun had wished that the dough wasn’t the only thing that was kneaded that afternoon.

“Can we do heart and star shapes? I really wanna do hearts!” Jongin asked as they looked through the batch of cookie cutters they’d produced from the back of a shelf.

“We can do whatever we want, I think.” Grabbing a reindeer shaped cutter, Sehun put it aside for later use.

“Okay, great, I’ll do hearts and stars and… a bear, oh my god, I want to do a bear. I really like them.” Jongin’s eyes lit up when he spotted a cutter shaped like the head of a bear. Sehun had to admit that it was pretty adorable.

“You know, if I did this with Baekhyun, I’m one hundred percent sure he’d do dick-shaped cookies.” He mumbled more to himself, surprised when Jongin actually heard it.

“Actually, that’s a good idea!”

It took them a while until they’d filled up the first griddle with stars, hearts, bears, reindeer and trees. Jongin was so ecstatic about the bears that approximately half of the cookies on the griddle were bear-head-shaped. If it meant that Sehun could see the adorable smile on Jongin’s lips, Sehun really didn’t mind.

Just when they were about to shove the griddle into the oven, Sehun cursed.

“Shit, we forgot to preheat the oven.”

Sending him a confused look, Jongin didn’t know what Sehun was talking about until he explained to him that they had to heat up the oven before they put the griddle inside so that it reached the perfect temperature first. Much to their luck, it didn’t take too long.

“Now we have to put them in for 15 minutes. We should probably check in between.”

However, they didn’t check in-between.

After approximately 20 minutes of playing on Sehun’s phone again (Jongin had found out about a game called League of Legends and even though Sehun had told him the phone version was shit, he was really into it), they realized that 15 minutes were long over.

“Are they supposed to be that dark?” Jongin was peering into the oven, eyebrows furrowed.

“Fuck!” Sehun gently pushed him aside as he fumbled for some gloves. Once he’d managed to wrestle the griddle out of the oven, Jongin’s eyes darkened as he saw the state of the cookies.

“Oh no, they look way too dark. They’re burned, Sehun, what do we do?”

Honestly, Sehun had no clue. “Uh- I don’t know…”

Jongin’s pout intensified. “Oh man, this sucks so much.”

It seemed to really upset Jongin and Sehun couldn’t deal with that at all. He carefully set the tray onto the counter. The longer he looked, the worse the cookies looked. “Shit, we really should’ve set an alarm clock or something.”

Jongin folded his arms in front of his chest as he leaned over the counter, examining the rather dark cookies. There were way too many burned areas on them to consume them, especially the edges looked black. “Oh man, I was so excited. I really thought we were going to actually not fuck this up. How could we mess up the last step?”

Before Jongin’s pout got any worse, Sehun attempted to do damage control. Pointing at the two other griddles, he tried to cheer Jongin up.

“We still have two griddles left. Let’s put the next one into the oven. This time we’ll be more careful, okay?”

Still, Jongin just pouted. “Oh man, I really wanted our first batch of cookies to come out great though.”

After witnessing Jongin’s disappointed expression for approximately ten seconds longer, Sehun couldn’t stand it anymore. Almost inaudibly, Sehun grabbed his wand and whispered a spell under his breath. Maybe Jongin wouldn’t notice.

“Actually, they don’t look so bad?”

On the tray, the cookies had converted into a much better and certainly a lot more edible colour. All the black spots were gone and they actually looked just perfectly baked. Jongin’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Huh? What did you do? They look perfectly fine now!” He pointed at the cookies and then Sehun in accusation. That wasn’t the reaction Sehun had hoped for. Quickly, he tried to think of an excuse.

“Me? I didn’t do anything. Must have been the lighting.”

Jongin snorted. Admittedly, Sehun wasn’t the best liar in general but this time he hadn’t even managed to convince himself. “Don’t lie to me. You fixed them with a spell!”

“Okay, okay.” Sehun admitted it, once again feeling blood pool in his head. “But you looked so sad. Now, we can try them.” It was a little embarrassing that he had to admit that he’d done that just to cheer up Jongin but it couldn’t be helped.

“That’s… actually kind of sweet.”

When Sehun allowed himself to meet his eyes, Jongin actually looked flattered. They both turned their eyes towards the tray again. Jongin licked his lips.

“Should we wait until we put the chocolate on them or should we try them now?”

“Do you want to wait?” Truthfully, Sehun didn’t even know why he was asking. He knew the answer already even before Jongin had answered.

“…No.”

He’d expected that already. Both Jongin and Sehun reached out for the cookies at the same time, their hands bumping together in the progress. Giggles filled the air as Jongin attempted to push Sehun’s hand aside to grab the cookie they both had been aiming for. In the end, Jongin broke it in half and handed a piece to Sehun.

“Wow, they’re actually delicious.” A satisfied expression spread on Sehun’s face as he chewed.

“I know! I didn’t expect them to be so good! We made that!” It seemed like Jongin had already forgotten how discouraged he’d been after discovering that the cookies were burned. Now, Sehun was really glad that he’d used a spell to fix them after all. In the end, a little magic couldn’t hurt.

After sharing another cookie, they finally got round to putting the second griddle into the oven.

“We really need to watch out for the rest. I don’t want them to get burned, it’s not good for my ego.”

True to their word, they managed to not mess up the second and third batch. Even though Jongin accidently dumped a whole cookie in chocolate more than once, in the end they both were really satisfied with their outcome as they looked at two filled metal cookie boxes in front of them. They’d decided that using magic to clean wasn’t cheating – they were just lazy but neither wanted to admit it – and were ready to leave the kitchen behind without any major incidents.

“I think we really did well, don’t you?” Sehun was currently chewing on a bear-head-shaped cookie that Jongin had tried to decorate with a cutely drawn face. At the time, Sehun had watched him and he’d been mildly impressed. All he had produced where globs of chocolate in varying sizes with some sprinkles on it.

“Definitely, they look adorable and they’re delicious.” Holding a flower shaped cookie into the light, Jongin grinned. Earlier, Sehun had argued that flowers didn’t fit the concept of Christmas. Jongin had only blocked him out and continued creating cookie flowers, and a lot more than he’d originally intended.

“I should have done that earlier. I forgot how much fun this is.” Patting a little bit of flour off his pullover, Sehun reached for the lid for one of the metal boxes.

Instantly, Jongin nodded in agreement. “I really want to do that again, too. It was a lot more exciting and entertaining than I originally thought.”

“So you thought it was going to be boring?” His words came out a lot more serious than he’d intended and Sehun cringed.

“No, of course not. I don’t think spending time with you could be boring.” Jongin instantly hurried to say. “I meant it more like, I thought it would get frustrating at some point. But then we kind of didn’t mess up too badly and it was just a lot of fun.”

Sehun’s eyes formed crescents as he smiled.

“Yeah, I get that. I really enjoyed it too.”

Silence filled the air for a few seconds as they just looked at each other. Somehow, it wasn’t even awkward.

Sehun’s heart was still racing when Jongin finally broke the silence.

“Should we look for an empty classroom and snack on the cookies? I have a bottle of giggle water hidden in my nightstand. I can grab it and we can have a chill afternoon.”

With a grin, Sehun grabbed one of the boxes and nodded.

“Sounds like a brilliant idea.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon holed up in an empty classroom, sipping on Jongin’s bottle of giggle water that he’d ‘borrowed’ from his older sister who had already graduated from Hogwarts and Sehun showed him one of his favourite TV shows that they proceeded to watch on his phone until they realized that they had to hurry to the Great Hall or else they’d miss dinner.

When Sehun went to bed that night, he fell asleep with the picture of Jongin’s smile in his mind from when they’d looked at their final results of their baking session.

The following day, the two took a short trip to Hogsmeade. Between drinking Butterbeer and buying sweets at Honeydukes, they took a walk through the snow.

As they strolled through the streets which were almost empty, Sehun could feel Jongin’s hand bumping against his own several times. It took a few more attempts until Jongin finally laced their fingers together.

Immediately, Sehun’s heart pounded in his chest at 80 miles an hour. They shared a quick glance. Sehun wondered if the redness on Jongin’s cheeks came from the cold or because they were holding hands. The fond smile on his lips made him believe that it maybe was the latter.

Later that night, they met up at the astronomy tower again. Wrapped up in their blankets, Sehun was trying not to squeal when Jongin leaned his head on his shoulder as he laced their fingers together again underneath the blanket.

“In London, it’s impossible to see so many stars. It almost feels like I’m looking at an entirely different sky.”

“I know. It’s stunning. Honestly, I don’t feel that bad about not going home for the holidays anymore.”

Their eyes met. Sehun could feel Jongin’s gaze drop to his lips. Swallowing, he forced himself to keep his eyes at eye level.

“Me neither. You’re… making this holiday so much better than I thought it was going to be.”

He could feel Jongin’s finger brushing over his hand. Even though he thought that it was biologically impossible, his heart sped up even more when Jongin slowly leaned closer.

“I know we… only really started talking a few days ago. But still, it feels like I already really know you. I’ve never had that with someone before. It probably should be scary or something but instead it just feels… good.”

Jongin’s lips moved so sensually as he spoke and Sehun couldn’t stop staring. His ears were burning as he listened. A billion thoughts were running through his mind but he couldn’t get any words out.

Apparently, he didn’t really need to anyway.

This time, when Jongin leaned in Sehun wasn’t misinterpreting things.

Their lips met softly, his head tilting to the side for a better angle. The kiss was over as quickly as it had started but nevertheless Sehun was in heaven.

When Jongin pulled away, he was smiling. “Was that okay?”

“That was so very, very okay.” Sehun mumbled before he leaned in again. This time, the kiss lasted longer and Sehun actually wanted to whimper. As Sehun melted against his lips, Jongin’s free hand came up to gently cup his face. Sehun wanted to cry in happiness.

The next time they pulled apart, they were both grinning like idiots. The only thing that Sehun could come up with to say was, “Honestly, I think staying at Hogwarts was the best thing that could have happened to me this year.”

Between more soft kisses and some very shy cuddling, the Bowtruckle started to complain when it got squished between Jongin’s and Sehun’s chest, before it climbed into Sehun’s scarf again.

With a laugh, Sehun put it back into his pocket and then proceeded to kiss Jongin just like he’d wanted to do for so long.

They didn’t really talk about this but Sehun felt like they didn’t have to. They were on the same wavelength, and it was perfect without having to say it out loud.

“We should probably head back soon. It’s freezing.”

Time seemed to pass too quickly and it was getting late already. Neither Sehun nor Jongin were keen on having to flee from Flich once again. Still, they both were reluctant to part.

“I know, but I don’t want to.” Jongin mumbled, his head once again resting on Sehun’s shoulder. They had stopped kissing a while ago but Sehun liked to imagine that his lips were still tingling.

“Hmm.” He just hummed.

Instead of replying immediately, Jongin squeezed his hand softly first. “Do I need to carry you back inside?” He eventually asked, staring up at Sehun through his bangs. It made the Hufflepuff melt just a little.

“I wouldn’t mind if you did, you know.”

At this point, Sehun should have known that he probably shouldn’t have said that because a minute later, Jongin had him pulled up to his feet in an attempt to actually lift him up. After a few seconds of flailing, they both realized that it definitely wasn’t a great idea and instead, Jongin just pulled him in for another sweet kiss.

“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve already. Do you want to spend it with me?” Jongin whispered when they pulled apart.

“There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

Before they had to separate again at the moving staircases, Jongin pulled him in for another kiss that left Sehun flushed all the way to the Hufflepuff common room. He fell asleep with the memory of Jongin’s lips on his own.

In the morning of the 24 th of December, Jongin was already waiting at Sehun’s usual spot at the Hufflepuff table. He didn’t even get seated at the Gryffindor table anymore which made Sehun swoon just the slightest bit more. It wouldn’t bother him sitting at the Gryffindor table once in a while but Jongin had insisted on sitting with him at his table so Sehun wasn’t going to complain.

“Good morning.” He greeted him with a smile. They couldn’t really kiss in the middle of the Great Hall but the smile that Jongin sent him told him that he was thinking about doing it too.

“Morning! How did you sleep?”

After the events of last night, Sehun had slept like a baby. “I don’t think I’ve slept that well in a while.”

Having settled at the table, it took approximately five seconds until Jongin’s hand had found his own. Sehun certainly wasn’t complaining.

Just when they were mostly done with breakfast, about a dozen owls came rushing into the Great Hall. With muggle parents and no typical wizard pets, Sehun wasn’t used to getting owls so he wasn’t surprised when none landed in front of him. Two days ago, he’d learned that Jongin had an owl when he’d received a batch of letters during breakfast.

_ “Oh, Soo.” Jongin had mumbled to his left during breakfast when a small, brown owl landed in front of them. _

_ A letter had been tied to the owls leg and as Jongin reached out to carefully untie it, Sehun realized that it had to be Jongin’s owl. “I didn’t know you had an owl. It’s so cute.” _

_ Still fumbling with the string that was attached to the owl’s leg, Jongin grinned. “Technically, he belongs to my whole family. But Soo, that’s his name, kind of secretly favours me. I can’t blame him.” Jongin giggled stupidly. _

_ ‘I can’t blame him either’, Sehun had thought but hadn’t voiced it out loud. Instead he just smiled. _

_ “Don’t you have an owl?” Jongin had finally managed to untie the batch of letters, putting them aside before reaching for a piece of bread to feed the owl a few crumbs. _

_ Sehun snorted. “Honestly, I don’t even want to imagine having to explain to our neighbours why a owl frequents our house. Muggles don’t really keep owls as pets so my parents immediately weren’t fans of the idea. It’s not like I haven’t tried to ask them though.” _

_ “Oh man, that sucks.” Jongin had just sent him a sympathetic look and they’d continued with their breakfast. _

“You know, I have a Christmas present for you.” Jongin suddenly pulled Sehun out of his thoughts.

For a second, he didn’t know what to say. Even though he did have a small present for Jongin too, Sehun just hadn’t expected him to have a present for him as well. They’d only really started talking a few days ago and they’d only had their first kiss the night before.

“Really? ‘Cause I have a present for you too.” Sehun chewed on his lips. It wasn’t a large present for obvious reasons, but he still thought that Jongin was going to like it.

“Seriously? You didn’t have to.”

“Well, you didn’t have to either.” Sehun deadpanned.

Jongin looked dumbfounded for a second but then laughed. “You’re right.”

Biting off a piece from a strip of bacon, Sehun grinned. “I’m always right.”

The day passed quickly. Sooner than expected, it was getting dark outside and Sehun and Jongin were gathered in the Gryffindor common room. It was the first time for Sehun had entered  another house common room and he’d been quite curious about it.

The first thing that Sehun noticed was the different colour scheme. Obviously, he wasn’t too surprised by how much red was actually included in the room but he hadn’t expected how comfortable it actually looked. What he enjoyed were the larger windows that would probably let in a decent amount of light during the day. Like this, they created a nice, comfortable atmosphere, the stars blinking at the night sky as he glanced through the glass for a second.

They had both settled into the couch right in front of the fireplace. Surprisingly, no other Gryffindors were around. “There are a few left in school but I guess they’re at a one of the small Christmas parties or something.” Jongin had shrugged when Sehun had asked him about it earlier.

Once again, Jongin was leaning against Sehun’s shoulder, their fingers laced together. A box of their self-made cookies was placed in the centre of the table in front of them and two half empty cups of hot chocolate where long forgotten.

When Jongin shifted against him, the present Sehun had prepared for him pressed against him. He’d stowed it in his pocket so that he could leave it for Jongin on his nightstand when he got the chance. That way, the other could open it on the 25 th first thing in the morning.

After a few careful kisses that turned into a small make-out session, Jongin cupped Sehun’s face. Staring at his face for a few moments, Sehun was about to ask what was up when Jongin smiled. “You’re so… captivating, Sehun. When we started hanging out, I couldn’t help but feel drawn in by you.”

A flush crept up Sehun’s neck, slowly reaching his cheeks. “You too… Actually, I’ve had a crush on your for a quite a while.” He finally admitted.

Apparently, Jongin hadn’t noticed his not so small crush because the other boy looked absolutely spooked. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously.” Sehun chewed on his lip. It was a little bit embarrassing to confess that but he had felt the urge to get it out.

“Wow… I didn’t know.” A soft touch to his cheekbone made Sehun look up. Their eyes met and Sehun fell for the soft look in his deep brown eyes once again.

“Well, now you do.” There was a bashful tone in his voice and he quickly reached for a cookie, effectively breaking the mood. It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy the closeness, it just felt incredibly overwhelming. What Jongin probably didn’t know was that Sehun had never been in a relationship before. And if he wasn’t totally mistaken, this was definitely going into the direction of a relationship if it wasn’t one already yet.

Now that he’d put an end to the moment though, Jongin stretched as he got off from the couch. Immediately, Sehun’s eyes were drawn to the thin sliver of skin that was revealed when Jongin’s pullover rode up and Sehun quickly looked away when he realized what he was doing.

“I’ll quickly head to the toilet, okay? I’ll be back in a moment.” Jongin smiled down at him and Sehun just nodded.

The moment the other boy was out of sight, Sehun jumped up from the couch. Now, it was the perfect time to push through with his plan of putting his present on Jongin’s night stand. Earlier when they’d crossed the room, Jongin had showed him the way to the dormitories so Sehun found the way without a hitch. Hurrying up the stairs, he worried about being unable to figure out which bed Jongin’s was. However, the moment he entered the right dormitory, he immediately knew which bed Jongin’s was. Jongin’s Firebolt was leaning against the wall beside the bed and a smug grin spread on Sehun’s face. That had been a lot easier than anticipated.

Reaching into his pocket, Sehun pulled out the small and badly wrapped present to place it on the other student’s night stand. Just when he was about to turn around and head back to the common room so Jongin wouldn’t realized that he’d been gone too, his eyes landed on something on Jongin’s bed.

A letter was lying on the comforter, obviously already opened and probably read. Curiosity got the better of him and Sehun couldn’t help but lean closer.

_ My dear Jongin, _

_ I’m writing you this letter because I miss you. It’s been way too long since we last saw each other and I already miss you quite a lot. It’s just not the same when you’re not here. When you’re gone for such a long time, it makes me realize that it just feels like something’s missing. I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about. Anyways, it wasn’t my intention to make this letter a sad one so I’ll stop it here and just keep it short. I miss you and I can’t wait to see you again, _

_ Love, J. _

 

A feeling of nausea was spreading in Sehun’s stomach with every word he read. There was no doubt this was a love letter. Sehun just didn’t understand. A lump had formed in his throat as he took a step back, dropping the letter on the comforter as if the touch had burned his hand.

It seemed like there was someone back at home that really missed Jongin. The only reasonable thing that Sehun could think of was that Jongin was in a relationship. That person had to be his boyfriend - or girlfriend – at this point Sehun didn’t even really know anymore.

Tears were already running down his cheeks when he realized that he was actually crying. His feet moved automatically as he rushed down the stairs, only one thought playing in his mind over and over again:  _ Jongin had been playing with him for the whole time _ .

Sehun didn’t even hear Jongin calling out for him as he crossed the room, storming right out of the Gryffindor common room without ever looking back.

The portraits began to whisper as he ran through the empty corridors of the old school and Sehun’s heart like it had been ripped into a thousand little pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, would you like some smut at the end of this? I haven't written it yet, otherwise chapter 3 is done. I'll get to it tonight then! I would love to receive some feedback in the form of Kudos and comments! Thank you for reading!  
> Ps. If you enjoyed this, please check out my newest fic, you can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975830/chapters/39898584)! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to upload earlier today but since it's Christmas, I was busy with my family up until now! Anyways, the last chapter is up so please enjoy! Thank you for reading!

_Jongin had been playing with him for the whole time._

The thought kept repeating itself in his head over and over, leaving a deeper impact every time. The lump in his throat had turned to a weight in his stomach that made Sehun’s insides feel as if someone was squeezing his intestines, tying them up in tight knots.

Another wave of nausea hit him when Sehun realized that maybe all of this was his own fault.

In the end, he probably shouldn’t have kept his hopes up. Jongin had made giving in to him so easy and Sehun had been lured in too quickly. It had been effortless to fall for him and Sehun had been so willing to give in. Things proceeded quickly, and maybe Sehun had just misunderstood.

What exactly he’d misunderstood, Sehun wasn’t sure. To him, the time they’d spent together, even though it had only been short, had been special. The fact that even though they’d only gotten to know each other properly a few days ago but felt like he’d known Jongin for ages already had made him hope that maybe this was more than just a casual fling.

The letter on Jongin’s bed had told him that he was probably nothing more than that though. Even though the words hadn’t been too direct, Sehun could only interpret it as a love letter.

At the thought, new tears began to stream down his cheeks. Honestly, he hadn’t expected himself to be so invested already but it seemed like Jongin had worked his way into his heart by storm. In the end, Sehun’s friends maybe were right. Sometimes, he was too soft.

A dozen pairs of eyes followed Sehun as he ran down the corridor, passing the school’s kitchen on the way. Another wave of pain filled his gut as the memories of baking cookies flooded his brains and he quickly averted his eyes, staring at the ground instead. Jongin had been so sweet, he just couldn’t believe that he was that two-faced. It didn’t fit into the image he had of him at all.

Still, the letter told him everything he had to know.

Once he’d moved past the still life that decorated the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, he almost tapped the wrong rhythm on the barrel. As a safety measure to keep non-Hufflepuffs out, the name “Helga Hufflepuff” had to be tapped in the correct rhythm on the only correct barrel out of many. In the end, Sehun closely avoided getting drenched in vinegar – a rather effective way to keep away unwanted intruders that wanted to enter the Hufflepuff common room – and staggered into the barrel that led up into the cosy common room.

As much as it looked inviting with its yellow and black colours, paired with yellow, white and green Christmas decorations, Sehun didn’t spare it a glance. Instead, he headed right for the dormitories where he threw himself onto his bed, releasing another heart-breaking sob.

Just before Sehun had thrown himself onto the bed, the little, green Bowtruckle had saved itself from getting crushed beneath him from where he’d been pocketed in his jacket.

A soft poke to his head made the crying Hufflepuff look up. Puffy eyes needed a few seconds to focus on the Bowtruckle that was desperately trying to console him and even though Sehun couldn’t understand any of it, it still made him smile through the tears.

“At least I still have you, hm?” He mumbled, pushing himself up a little. His fingers were shaking a little when he reached out to let the Bowtruckle climb into his palm, barely feeling its weight. After all that had happened, Sehun didn’t really want to put it back into the tree. Maybe he could convince his parents to keep it as a pet after all. It wasn’t that different from normal insects, he figured.

It took him a while to calm down a little bit and regain his composure. Thankfully, the common room as well as the dormitory had been empty so at least he hadn’t embarrassed himself in front of someone with his outburst.

“What should I do?” He asked the Bowtruckle quietly as he wiped away the last remnants of tears on his face.

On one hand, he really wanted to talk to someone about it. Texting Baekhyun was an option but he didn’t want to interrupt the other’s time spent with his family on Christmas Eve. There was no doubt that Baekhyun would drop anything to help him – hell, he’d probably call him the moment Sehun texted him about what had happened. Yet, Sehun couldn’t bring himself to write him.

On the other hand, he didn’t even really feel like sharing his feelings anyway. Just at the thought of Jongin, his insides contracted painfully.

In the end, he decided against texting Baekhyun for good and fell asleep not much later in attempt to escape his nagging thoughts.

 

Slumber still clung to Sehun when he blinked his eyes open the next morning. Excitement filled his veins at the thought of Christmas morning. Then, the memories of the previous night came rushing back and the happy feelings vanished as quickly as they’d come, leaving a him with a feeling of nausea.

Instead of heading to breakfast, Sehun stayed in bed. His parents had sent him presents (they’d even made the effort to send them by owl which he deeply appreciated) and he was delighted when he realized that there even was a present from Baekhyun, too. Still, nothing could lift his mood so much that it made him want to eat or at least leave his bed. Not even the Bowtruckle that was tugging on his finger to make him move was of any help.

His stomach was still churning uncomfortable by the time he forced himself to shower. Even though staying in bed all day hadn’t sounded like too bad of an idea, Sehun needed to leave the school building because he’d run out of branches for the Bowtruckle to consume. It sucked and he didn’t really want to leave the safe confines of the Hufflepuff common room, but what he wanted even less was the Bowtruckle being uncomfortable and hungry, especially since it was the only thing that could comfort him at the moment.

While he showered, Sehun had wondered whether Jongin was going to try and look for him or if he’d just leave him be. Even though a small part hidden in the deepest pits of his heart liked to imagine that Jongin was trying to fight for him, a very large part of him wanted to avoid the other at all cost.

Therefore, he poked his head around the corner of the corridor before he made his way down the hallway and away from the safe hideout that was the Hufflepuff common room.

He’d made it down the corridor for approximately 20 metres when a voice called out for him.

"Hey Sehun, wait!"

In front of him, a familiar figure had stepped in his way, standing about 10 metres away from him right where Sehun needed to pass to get to the gates of the castle. Instantly, Sehun took a step backward. There was no way he was going to talk to him.

Jongin’s voice rang through the large hallway. "I mean it! Hey Sehun, why are you ignoring me?"

Instead of answering, he turned around on his heal and took quick steps back into the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. Behind him, he could Jongin’s steps follow up right away.

"Sehun!"

Still, the Hufflepuff didn’t turn around. Behind him, the steps grew quicker. In return, Sehun sped up as well.

"Fuck it..." Jongin’s voice was a lot closer now and but Sehun didn’t dare to turn his head in case he’d get lured in by him.

"Immobulus!"

The charm hit Sehun right in the back. Frozen in the movement, he stilled in the middle of the corridor. Unable to take another step Sehun had to watch as Jongin walked past him. The Gryffindor stopped right in front of him, a frown etched on his face.

Initially, Sehun had wanted to look away. However, the charm had made it impossible for him to turn his head so he was forced to meet Jongin’s eyes.

"What the fuck Jongin, let me go!" At least he could move his lips.

The frown on Jongin’s face only deepened. "Only if you tell me what the hell is going on? All I know is you suddenly ran past me last night and never looked back? What was up with that? Did I do something?" The other’s voice was filled with accusations and Sehun couldn’t believe it.

"What?" He asked, gasping in surprise. "You definitely know what you did."

"I definitely don't, otherwise I wouldn't be asking. So, care to explain?" Jongin’s head was tilted to the side. With his arms folded in front of his chest, he watched Sehun closely. There was no indication that he was going to undo the charm anytime soon.

"I don't want to talk to you. Let me go." Sehun’s voice was laced with determination.

"Seriously, Sehun-" Jongin started to talk but Sehun interrupted him.

"I said I don't want to talk to you." It was a pity that Jongin had charmed him. All that he wanted to do was crawl back into his bed and maybe cry a little more. His eyes were already growing suspiciously wet again, this time with anger though. If Sehun hated one thing, it was wrongdoing someone.

For a short moment, hurt flickered across Jongin’s face. "Sehun, what even- ow!" Looking down at his hands that were folded in front of his chest, he spotted the small Bowtruckle that had climbed out of Sehun’s pocket and was now scratching away at Jongin’s hand, leaving small, red streaks.

"Serves you right..." Sehun huffed. He watched the little creature not stopping until Jongin had cupped it in his hands with satisfaction.

With the Bowtruckle still scratching at his palms from where he was hidden safely in Jongin’s hands, the Gryffindor met Sehun’s eyes again, a pleading look in them. "Please, just tell me. I really don't know what I did. I thought that what we had was…  special."

Now, Sehun was positively angry. "Special? Yeah right. I'm just an affair for you, just admit it already." The lump in his throat made it hard to speak up but he managed to get the words out without sounding choked up. Sehun was proud of himself.

"An affair? What the fuck are you talking about?" Confusion clouded Jongin’s features and Sehun was slightly surprised by how well the other feigned ignorance. Therefore, he decided to help the other out and give him a hint.

"The letter on your bed? Signed by a secret "J."? Doesn't ring a bell?" Sehun’s wish to stay to remain at least a little mature had flown out of the window by now.

In the matter of a second, Jongin’s expression changed entirely. "Seriously? That's what all this is about?" Jongin cracked up and Sehun wanted to punch him. Being laughed at definitely was the final straw.

"Why are you laughing?" The thought of Jongin laughing at him made his guts tighten even more. Sehun felt nauseous. "So now you're even making fun of me. I really thought you were different but you're just-" He started, his voice sounding a lot less firm. However, before he could finish his sentence, Jongin interrupted him.

"Sehun." The boy in front of him stared at him intensely. There was still a small grin on his lips but his eyes were serious again. "J Stands for Jungah. And Jungah is the name of my sister."

And just like that, Sehun’s entire construction collapsed. "Your…  sister?" The words only came out weakly.

Jongin nodded. "Yes, that letter on my bed was from my sister. Sometimes, she’s a little... special. But yes, that letter was sent by her."

There had probably never been a moment in his life when Sehun had felt more ridiculous. The whole fit he’d thrown had been based on a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that could have been immediately solved if he hadn’t insisted on ignoring Jongin and being mad at him instead. Sehun was fucked. "You're not lying right now, are you?"

Dry laughter escaped Jongin as he shook his head. "I don't know how to prove it to you that I'm not, but no, I'm not lying."

Silence filled the air between them for a few seconds. "Shit."

Wetting his lips, Jongin chuckled. It wasn’t a happy sound though. "Yeah, shit."

Now that he knew that he’d fucked up, Sehun didn’t even know where to start apologizing. The thought of being the one who’d fucked everything up somehow made everything worse and for a moment, he almost thought that he was going to hyperventilate. "Jongin, I-"

"… am sorry?” The other interrupted him once again. Sehun figured that he probably deserved that. “Yeah, I figured. I'm kinda mad, Sehun, you know? You didn't even give me the chance to explain myself."

The words hit closer to home than Jongin probably knew. The fact that it was his fault really fucked him over. "I know- I..." He stuttered, a billion things to say running through his mind. Everything that he was going to say seemed like it wasn’t good enough for Jongin. "I was an idiot. I'm sorry, Jongin. I didn't want to ruin everything, I just- my brain short-circuited. I wasn't thinking clearly anymore."

Jongin didn’t reply immediately. The Bowtruckle had stopped scratching at his palms so he’d dared to open them. Stepping closer, he held out his hand so that the creature could climb back into Sehun’s pocket. They were suddenly so close again and Sehun wanted to hug him and beg for forgiveness, but he still couldn’t move.

"I understand that you were upset but it was still shitty. The letter was from my sister. Why did you even read it? I figured you were in the dormitory to leave the present there but that doesn't mean you can read my letters." Jongin asked. Up close, Sehun felt even more uncomfortable being unable to look away.

His cheeks were burning in shame as Jongin and he couldn’t stand being rooted to the spot anymore. "Could you maybe undo the charm?" He asked quietly. In the end, he wouldn’t blame Jongin if he wasn’t willing to give in just yet. Still, he was thankful when the other whispered a charm under his breath to reverse the first one and Sehun could finally move his limbs again. It immediately made him feel a little bit more in control of the situation. "Thank you." He murmured, taking a deep breath before he continued. "Jongin, I don't know where to start. First of all, I'm sorry that I read the letter, that was impolite and wrong. Second, I know I fucked up. When I read that letter I just- I thought I was just a fling for you and that really hurt because I trusted you and I just- I really like you. I've been crushing on you forever and then I got to know you and you were even better than in my dreams. And you even seemed to like me back! And boom - everything shattered when I read the letter. That's what I thought at least." The words had just kept tumbling out of his mouth and still, Sehun felt like he hadn’t even said enough. "What can I do to make it up to you? I really want to fix this. I feel like an idiot and I hate myself for fucking up this badly."

It took Jongin a long time before he mustered up a reply.

"Please don't get me wrong, I'm still a little angry.” He started and Sehun’s guts twisted with nerves. “But I don't want to spend Christmas being salty about this. You behaved like an idiot but I guess- I guess I still want you to be my idiot."

Shocked, Sehun lifted his gaze to meet Jongin’s and a surprised bark of laughter escaped him. "I do want to be your idiot."

In front of him, Jongin was smiling softly again, a hint of amusement detectable in the quirk of his brows. "You're a dumbass Sehun, but I think that's one of the things I like about you. I forgive you, okay? Just don't pull shit like that again. If you have an issue with me, we talk it out."

If he’d ever felt this relieved before, Sehun couldn’t remember anymore. "I don't even deserve you! Thank you, Jongin." He breathed, not thinking about it when he crushed the other boy in a tight hug. Neither felt like letting go, so they just stayed like that for a while, Sehun’s arms wrapped around him tightly. In that moment, he felt like he never wanted to let go again. Just minutes ago, Jongin had almost slipped out of his life and Sehun really couldn’t risk that anymore, especially if the only real reason was his own stupidity.

"Don't say that.” Jongin’s face was buried in the crook of his neck. “It's okay. And now let's just forget about it for now, alright? I don't want to waste more time on this. Where were you heading anyway?” He finally took a step back, looking at Sehun with a questioning look in his eyes. “I was looking for you during the whole of breakfast."

Even though he already missed being embraced in Jongin’s arms, Sehun also appreciated just looking at Jongin in front of him. Only now he noticed how cozy and cute the other looked in an oversized, red sweater and messy hair hanging into his eyes. Sehun’s heart skipped a beat. "I decided to not have breakfast and now I was just gonna go get some sticks for the Bowtruckle."

Jongin hummed, eyebrows furrowing in worry. "You should eat something though. We could check the kitchen if they have something for you?”

Alone the fact that the other was already so caring again right after Sehun had acted like a total prick almost made him tear up. He really could consider himself lucky. "Why are you so sweet even when I was such a dick?"

Jongin snorted as he laced their fingers together, steering Sehun into the direction of the gates to the castle grounds. "Cause I'm amazing."

Sehun turned his head and their eyes met for a second, his heartbeat picking up when Jongin smiled at him. "You definitely are."

 

Collecting sticks from the Bowtruckle tree didn’t take more than half an hour and until then, Sehun’s stomach had rumbled so many times that Jongin didn’t hesitate to drag him to the Hogwarts kitchen to grab him a bite to eat that would last him until lunch. After Sehun had finished the sandwich a grim looking house elf had handed him, they’d settled in the Hufflepuff common room. It was the first time for Jongin in the other house’s common room but he instantly felt comfortable, snuggled up against Sehun on the couch, a blanket thrown over them.

On the table in front of them, two presents were resting on the wooden surface.

"You have to unwrap it." Jongin motioned at the gift. Before he’d come to look for Sehun, he’d quickly grabbed the present the other had left him the previous night. He hadn’t opened it yet since he’d wanted to solve the issue with Sehun first. In addition to that, Jongin had brought the present that he’d gotten for Sehun, too.

However, Sehun wanted Jongin to unwrap his present first. "No, you go first."

With a roll of his eyes but a smile on his lips, Jongin didn’t really put up a fight until he gave in. "Okay, okay. So demanding." He grinned. Reaching for the small box that Sehun had left on his bedside table, Jongin softly shook it to make a guess at what was inside. When he couldn’t figure it out, he undid the cute bowtie on top of it and discarded it to the side before he carefully took off the lid. When his eyes landed on the object inside, his eyes grew wide. "Is that… a snitch?"

Truthfully, Jongin was slightly confused when he spotted the snitch and Sehun hurried to explain. "Yes, I found it in the Room of Requirements."

Nodding in understanding, even though he still didn’t quite get why Sehun gifted him a snitch, Jongin examined the small winged sphere in his hands. "I've only ever heard about that room but I've never been there."

"I could show it to you someday." A fire was crackling in the fire place behind the couch they were sitting on and Sehun couldn’t remember ever feeling so cosy.

Next to him, Jongin still didn’t quite understand the motive behind Sehun’s gift idea. "I'd like that. But honestly, why a snitch?"

"I thought... I thought it might be a nice reminder of when we first did something together, which was playing Quidditch. And then you even caught the snitch even though I'm the seeker." Their eyes met again. Jongin smirked.

"Cause you almost slipped from the broom."

Rolling his eyes, Sehun turned away his head to look at the snitch again instead. "That's not the point."

Soft hands cupped his face all of a sudden, and Sehun let his head be turned back to facing Jongin. His eyes dropped to Jongin’s lips as the other spoke.

"I know, I know. That's so sweet of you though, Sehun. I really love the idea. It'll always remind of that day."

It was hard to tear his gaze away from the captivating movements of his lips hut Sehun managed to meet his eyes. They didn’t lock for long though, slipping shut as Jongin closed the distance between them to press a soft kiss to his lips. When they parted, Jongin was smiling.

"Okay, now it's your turn to unwrap it."

Jongin’s present consisted of cookie cutters shaped like a Bowtruckle and a broom. With a smile, Sehun examined them as Jongin explained how he’d ‘borrowed’ the cookie cutters from the Hogwarts kitchen back when they’d baked the cookies together and how he’d reshaped them with magic so that they were shaped in a way that Sehun would like. Sehun was absolutely in love with the present and was secretly scheming their next visit at the kitchen already.

The afternoon passed without another incident. Evening brought a large dinner at the Great Hall where a thousand candles seemed to light up the high ceiling. After finishing dessert, they decided to head back to the Gryffindor common room where they’d intended to spend the previous evening already. When Sehun couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, Jongin nudged his side softly. “We should go to bed. You can sleep in my bed, if you’d like that. That way you don’t have to walk all the way back to your common room anymore.”

Honestly, Jongin didn’t really need to convince Sehun anymore.

It took them about 15 minutes until both of them had climbed into bed where Sehun fell asleep with Jongin in his arms.

 

Everything around Sehun felt stiflingly hot. Something was pressing into his chest, solid and warm. His arm was slung over something firm in front of him.

A familiar throbbing in his pants made Sehun press closer to the object in front of him, humming at the soft feeling. When the thing he was holding onto moved, a small gasp escaped him as the warm mass rubbed against his morning wood. As he nuzzled his face closer again, he began to pick up a slow grind of his hips while he slipped out of consciousness again, pleasure building in his gut.

A yawn rang through Sehun's ears.

At the sound, his eyes flew open and his heart began to pound in his chest as realization began to dawn. It wasn't just something that he was holding in his arms, it was _someone_ , and he'd just dry-humped that person in his sleep.

"Morning..." Jongin mumbled sleepily. The other was peeking at him over his shoulder. While his eyes still looked sleepy, the Gryffindor's lips were pulled into a smirk.

With a head as red as a tomato, Sehun attempted to angle his hips away and at the same time struggled to find the right words to explain himself.

"I- it's not- I'm sorry!" He spluttered.

Jongin just watched him in amusement. The only hint that the other was a little embarrassed as well was the faint redness in his cheeks.

"Relax Sehun." He mumbled. Jongin's voice was still heavy from sleep and it did nothing to calm Sehun down at all.

By the time he'd managed to get some distance between Jongin's ass that he'd been humping and his hard cock that was restrained in one of Jongin's pairs of pyjama pants, he was pretty sure that he could never meet the other's eyes ever again.

Instead of replying, Sehun just made a small sound in his throat which he wasn't even sure how to interpret himself.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." Jongin had turned around a little more so Sehun could see more of his face but Sehun rather wanted to bury himself under the blanket and never resurface again.

"I- I'm hard too."

The silence between them seemed to stretch for too long.

In reality, only a few seconds passed until Sehun opened and clothed his mouth again like a goldfish. He felt like one, too.

"If you want- if you want to, you can touch. Or you can just grind against my ass again. That felt- that felt good." Now, Jongin's cheeks were a lot redder as well.

Sehun's cock twitched in his pants and he was worried that if his dick only got any closer to Jongin, he'd come already.

"Really?" He finally managed to croak a reply. All his blood had either wandered to his cheeks or his cock but none seemed to be left in his brain.

"Yeah." Jongin nodded. "Here-" a hand hesitantly reached out to grab Sehun's und when the Hufflepuff didn't resist, Jongin gently led it to where he was straining against his pyjamas as well.

Truthfully, Sehun had never touched someone else's dick before. However, he'd touched his own a good amount of times before so even though it felt kind of weird at first, he felt like he could make this work. Squeezing Jongin's shaft through the fabric, he let out a breath in amazement at the realization that he was actually touching Kim Jongin's dick.

"That's- a little different." He mumbled more to himself than to Jongin. The other didn't bother to reply though, plush lips parted as Sehun began to squeeze and map out his cock through the fabric.

When Jongin let out a surprisingly loud moan, Sehun could feel his own cock twitch again. An involuntary gasp escaped him.

"Can I touch you too? Or- wait." Jongin carefully detached Sehun's hand from his crotch and shuffled around beneath the blanket. While Sehun waited for him to do whatever he was doing, he already began to miss the contact.

When Jongin suddenly turned to his side again, his back facing Sehun, the other was a little confused at first.

"Move closer again. Like before when you were asleep." Jongin wasn't looking at him and his voice came out a little muffled as he spoke into the blanket.

Only when he had scooted close enough so that his clothed dick made contact with Jongin, he realized what the other had been up to.

While shuffling around beneath the blanket, Jongin had disposed of his pants and underwear. That way, Sehun's cock was now pressing against Jongin's bare ass.

Sehun was definitely going to blow his load way too soon.

"You should take off your pants." Jongin mumbled. Yet, he also reached for Sehun's hand so the other couldn't work off his clothes. Honestly, Sehun didn't mind too much because when Jongin guided his hands back to his cock, he felt eager to touch again.

With Jongin's back pressed flush against Sehun's chest, Sehun wrapped his fingers around Jongin's cock properly for the first time. The response was immediate, a gasp errupting from Jongin's throat as Sehun experimentally moved his hand in stroking motions.

It was slightly more familiar in this position because it was almost like jerking himself off, only that it wasn't his own dick in his hand. Also, the fact that he had to do it with his left hand made him struggle a tiny bit.

Apparently, Jongin didn't mind Sehun's clumsiness at all though. Little moans and gasps tumbled from his lips as his hips joined the movement of Sehun's hand which in return made Sehun bite his lips. Even through the fabric of his pants, the friction of Jongin's ass against his cock felt heavenly and unlike anything he'd felt before.

To muffle his moans, Sehun pressed his lips to Jongin's neck again. Still, small groans escaped him as his own hips rolled against Jongin on their own accord.

"Take off your pants." Jongin insisted breathlessly. His words turned into a whine when Sehun's fingers tightened around him and it only took a few more strokes until Jongin came into Sehun's palm with a broken moan. Jongin's orgasm took Sehun by surprise and it made him tip over the edge as well. Hot come spilled into his pants and he would be embarrassed if he wasn't so gone, riding out the high by grinding harder against Jongin until the stimulation became too much.

When their panting had calmed down, Jongin turned his head to look at Sehun. They'd both rolled onto their backs, Jongin trying to avoid the stain on his mattress he'd created and Sehun trying to ignore the uncomfortable stickiness in his pants.

"That was..." Sehun started but trailed off, not knowing how to really describe the experience. Being so close and intimate with someone was entirely new but Jongin had made it a lot less scary than Sehun had thought it out to be.

"...amazing." Jongin finished for him. With a soft gaze he was looking at Sehun. Gentle fingers wrapped around Sehun's hand that wasn't still slightly sticky even though they'd precariously wiped it with Jongin's shirt.

"You know-" began Sehun but he trailed off when he realized how cheesy his next words were going to be. Yet, Jongin's encouraging smile made him go on.

"You know, when I first heard that I was going to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, I was pretty bummed. But after the past few days, I can say that staying at Hogwarts was the best thing I could have done this year and the only reason for that is you. And then, I almost messed everything up." Sehun’s face scrunched up in annoyance aimed at himself.

Soft lips found Sehun’s and when they parted again, Jongin was smiling.

“Don’t worry, you won’t get rid of me anytime soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would really apreciate feedback in the form of comments or Kudos! How did you like the ending or the story in general? I added in bit of smut, too. If you liked this, you can check out my newest fic [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975830/chapters/39898584). Thank you for reading, I hope you had a wonderful christmas and if you don't celebrate, I hope you had a good time anyway <3

**Author's Note:**

> How do you like the story so far? If you enjoyed this, please check out my newest fic, you can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975830/chapters/39898584)! Would you like to have some sexy times at the end of part 3? Let me know in a comment or leave some Kudos, I'd really appreciate it! Have a beautiful Christmas Eve!


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